As it happens, designing Future Interfaces For The Future used to be my line of work. I had the opportunity to design with real working prototypes, not green screens and After Effects, so there certainly are some interactions in the video which I'm a little skeptical of, given that I've actually tried them and the animators presumably haven't. But that's not my problem with the video.

My problem is the opposite, really — this vision, from an interaction perspective, is not visionary. It's a timid increment from the status quo, and the status quo, from an interaction perspective, is actually rather terrible.

Skim through the article. Interesting points. I can understand some of them. Interaction with physical objects and feedback. Got it. Like it.

I get to the video. Hmmm... But that's kind of cool. I'd like that. Seems like he's complaining about a paradigm shift and being more or less of a Luddite.

Then...

Cue ominous music... Drums... Thunder & lightning...

MICROSOFT! WTF? They did something cool? WTF? That can't be from MS! MS couldn't have produced a video THAT cool! No way!

I'm still rooting for surface. If they're going to kill the Courier, at least they can give us one of the cool things they have in the pipes...

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My problem is the opposite, really — this vision, from an interaction perspective, is not visionary. It's a timid increment from the status quo, and the status quo, from an interaction perspective, is actually rather terrible.

This matters, because visions matter. Visions give people a direction and inspire people to act, and a group of inspired people is the most powerful force in the world. If you're a young person setting off to realize a vision, or an old person setting off to fund one, I really want it to be something worthwhile. Something that genuinely improves how we interact.

Well, you need to start somewhere. It's a step. There will be more along the way.

What do you expect though? Teleporters, tractor beams, and "Computer, hot apple pie with a slice of bohemian goat's milk cheddar aged medium with jack fruit and vanilla ice cream on a silver platter with oak wood chopsticks and a side of hot twins in bikinis"?

Here's my vision. I imagine things and they happen.

Oh, here's my other vision that I stole:

Apparently I'm not alone in stealing that vision:

If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, And I'd get him to swap our places, Be running up that road, Be running up that hill, With no problems...

Dunno... His complaints seem to be a bit picky. Microsoft is about practicality. They're not a "vision" company. The drive possibilities forward. They do not drive imagination forward.

I found it interesting that he says Microsoft's vision isn't visionary and he is a former Apple employee. . .

Perhaps he wasn't intending on singling Microsoft out and perhaps that was just the best video he could find to illustrate his point. Or perhaps not. . .

Either way he's right ... there is no tactile feedback with the single finger interface. Surface is cool... yes, absolutely. But it's a current technology (which needs to get its ass to market...). It's just not the slightest bit futuristic at this point. Which was the author's point ... And I for one agree with him.